Hand lettering by Michael BuchinoHand lettering by BT Livermore

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Project Description

Limited edition collaborative poster between BT Livermore and Michael Buchino, a WPA-style PSA made without using computers. (Free PDF available at http://pdx.be/kind)

Production Lesson(s)

We had to design everything to scale. Without computers, we couldn't blow up our sketchbook scribblings. The tracing paper composite is still kinda loose, allowing us to adjust placement, kern the lettering or, in this case, draw the left hand completely differently.

Drawing all of it with a marker wouldn't do—the fills would turn out streaky. So we decided to cut everything with rubylith. We place a sheet of rubylith over the composite and start cutting.

While the process takes longer than a computer-generated piece, it is still forgiving enough to allow for error. And the WPA aesthetic is super conducive to this technique. Rough edges, crooked lines and various other imperfections become happy accidents. The handmade-ness shines.

One really great moment was while BT was working on the skull. He looked up and said 'You know what would be great?' We looked at each other and both exclaimed 'if the screen was cracked!'. The crack was added at the last minute and it came out perfect.